Music > Interviews

Interview with Courtney Barnett

07/05/14

To some, playing in front of a 200,000-strong Coachella line-up would give them cause for the jitters, or hightailing it round the world, to lands never ventured, and never really mused upon until now. For Courtney Barnett, those things are her world now, and she’s much more likely to get freaked in 40 degree heat, while mulling over beansprout growth. That actually happened, and her subsequent song about that panic attack, ‘Avant Gardener’ has given her the outing to take on those bigger experiences. Her songs, both abstract and by contrast, ultimately relatable, make her a Moldy Peaches-like artist for the next generation. It’s an electrifying time in this Australian’s life, but speaking to her today, she has the relaxed tone as if touring is like folding laundry. We love her for it…

You’ve done a couple of really big things on your US trip so far, I mean, Coachella and Jimmy Fallon are some big US checklist things, aren’t they? Yeah, I guess so! They were really great. It was pretty crazy, but they both went really well. We did Jimmy Fallon yesterday and all of it was really fun. It was kind of a bit surreal as well, ‘cause playing big festivals was something that I’d never actually done. 

Well it doesn’t get much bigger than Coachella, and then by contrast, Jimmy Fallon must’ve been the other extreme with an intimate studio audience. Yeah, totally; very different, very different, but all a fun experience. 

I hate to put the fear of God in to you, but you have more travelling to come; your UK tour starts next week. Interest is huge in this country already and you got an NME Award Nomination last year, didn’t you? Have you been stoked with the reaction? Yeah, it’s very overwhelming in a way for me, ‘cause I’d kind of never even left Australia until now, so it’s just funny. I think I grew up in a little bit of a bubble; even like, where I grew up compared to everyone I went to school with was slightly out of town, you know? Considering the idea that people on the other side of the world would be listening to my music was a very foreign thought.

To talk a little about back home for you, is Melbourne’s music scene good? Is it big enough to sustain a healthy music career? Yeah, I reckon! I reckon the Melbourne music scene is amazing and it’s very broad, but yeah, it’s kind of like a little community where everybody sticks together, and helps each other out in whatever way. It’s pretty cool; even like, I turned on my computer just before you rang – and even last night as the Jimmy Fallon thing was airing – I saw like, a million messages coming through from people back home, you know, just showing little flags of support. It’s pretty special.

Did you always know that you’d have to cross the waters to make a big music career though? No, I never even considered it [laughs]. I mean people kind of talk about it, but I’d never considered it. I was pretty content just playing around, but you know, Australia’s small. Yeesh, I mean it’s population, so I guess now that I’m travelling and seeing the rest of the world, I realise that there’s a lot more out there.

You were working in a bar up until recently – were your regulars aware of the interest you were receiving? Did any of them realise how big you were getting round the world? [Laughs] Yeah, some of them joked with me about it! The good thing is they didn’t really care; they were just proud and they’d show me their newspaper when I was in it. Yeah, it was kind of more pride than anything else, and then making a joke about it just to keep it real!

You’re touring so much now Courtney, which is obviously exciting but has its own level of drudgery. How conducive is it for songwriting, or is it a real ball ache? No, I think I tend to write little bits anywhere, you know. Like, I used to write most of my songs at 4am when I’d finished working, and even when I was doing a bit of travelling around Australia, before I was touring, I did a bit then. I think the more that I’m doing, the more I tend to write about.

I know you’ve having some amazing experiences at the moment, but is it turning out to be good songwriting fodder? Er… yeah, yeah; I think everything is and that’s kind of what I try to highlight in my songwriting is that everyone can write a song, and everyone has an interesting story, to some degree. I kind of just write about whatever, like really boring topics, but I don’t think it really matters where I am.

We know that you consider your debut not to be your debut, as it was two former EPs released together. Your debut as you consider it has just been finished though, I hear – what can you tell us about it? Yeah, we finished it like two days before we left. I don’t really know what to tell you about it yet! I just listened to some of the mixes last week when we were in California and you know, I’m really proud of it. I’ve had a lot of fun making it. Sonically, it’s pretty varied but the songwriting’s pretty similar… obviously, because I wrote all the songs! They’re kind of in a similar vein, but they stretch from genre to genre, like there’s this weird two-minute pop song, then there’s this [laughs], seven-minute kinda crazy horse thing, so they’re very different! But I guess that’s the same as the two EPs, ‘cause they’re both varied.

What I was thinking about the two EPs is that ‘I’ve Got a Friend Called Emily Ferris’ is slightly more lo-fi than ‘How to Carve a Carrot into a Rose’. Have you kind of pushed the production on again, or does that just sort of depend on the song? Yeah, ‘…Emily Ferris’ was recorded in a lounge room; some of my friends had some gear, so we recorded it like that, and the 2nd EP, we got some funding from the government, so we went into the studio. And yeah, I love how they both sound, like I love the sound of the first one – I’m so proud and I put so much effort into it. Technical-wise, I think it makes a huge difference, the more I’ve been doing, and the more experience I’ve got in the studio and blah, blah, blah, but I love how they both sound. But being in a studio I guess, it just highlights different parts. Sometimes it really helps bring a song to life.

One of the things I wanted to ask about is that I read you picked the guitar up when you were about 10, but what about singing? Is it something that emerged hand in hand, or was it a bit of a nervous discovery? Oh yeah, I didn’t even sing in front of anyone until I was 19, I think. I hated it, I was scared to sing; it’s a vulnerable thing, you know. So I’d never sing, and I’d just play guitar for people. I played guitar in bands, and play guitar for singers and then it just kinda happened. When I first started performing my songs, I was such a nervous singer. It’s only been over the last few years that I’ve got comfortable with it.

I know you were musical for years before emerging on all of our radars, but do you feel you did a fair bit of living in your late teens and early 20s before becoming really focused on music? Erm, yeah, kind of! Nothing crazy, like I did a bit of uni and I moved towns - moved to Melbourne, worked a full-time job and just partied. I didn’t really travel, and I didn’t do too much ‘stuff’, but like I was saying, that doesn’t make any experiences any less relevant.

I was thinking about the way that you write songs, and I was wondering, because they’ve got such a strong narrative, does the music ever prevent a problem, or get in the way of the story? Is it hard to bash it into shape sometimes? Yeah, yeah, and that’s just like the constant struggle of writing, but songs are adaptable and I kind of never consider them as set in stone. They should always be changing. They change with the narrative and you can change all those things, so yeah, it’s kind of like finding that balance of like, making a cocktail or something. You keep adding bits then there’s too much of one thing, so you add more of the other. It takes ages to get right sometimes. That’s why it’s so satisfying when it works.

I did a little Facebook stalking of your timeline over the last couple of years, and I saw a really good status that said, “my goal for next year: play somewhere other than a dingy pub or festival so that my grandma can come and see me play. Cushioned seats preferable.” Did she get to see you? And can you believe where you are now? God, that’s so funny [laughs]. Yeah, she’s awesome. She came to the show last year when we played in an art gallery, which you know, grandmas like art galleries, so I brought her along. So yeah, she’s super proud and that made me pretty stoked. It’s a bit loud and whatever for her, but she did come. I still love dingy pubs though.

You’re coming to Norwich this month, and you’re gonna bring us an amazing show, I’m pretty sure, so what, as an audience, can we do for you? Erm, just be involved… energetically!

Emma R. Garwood

Courtney Barnett plays The Waterfront Studio on May 13th. For tickets, go to www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk. Read the full interview online at Outlineonline.co.uk